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Is Filtered Water the Same as Purified Water: Distinction Between the Two
With a wide variety of different water purification and filtration systems available online, it’s not easy to make sense of the difference between filtered water and purified water.
You may be confused if whether or not filtered water is the same as purified water. These terms are often used interchangeably, adding more to your confusion. You might also be wondering if both water types provide the same sets of benefits.
You are not alone. As headlines about newly discovered and decades-old contaminants lurking in water supplies continue to emerge, many are beginning to lose confidence in the quality or purity of the water they’re consuming, either for drinking or cooking.
This is not surprising as everyone wants reliable access to clean, safe water for daily consumption, simple as that.
Producing a truly hydrating, pure water starts at understanding the different methods used for providing water that is safe to drink. It means knowing the difference between water filtration and water purification, as well as the technologies involved in producing clean water.
Is Filtered Water the Same as Purified Water: Knowing the Difference Between the Two
Filtered water is the same as purified water in terms of getting rid of certain contaminants from your tap or well water and offering you some health benefits. However, each one undergoes distinct processes and uses different water treatment technologies to produce safe drinking water.
What is Water Filtration:
Technically speaking, water filtration is a process of physically ridding water of impurities or contaminants, at its most basic form, straining out any particles from water. The key element of this system is that it mainly focuses on filtering out impurities from the water to make it cleaner. It can be used to remove even the smallest of particles.
Water filtration systems come in different types and sizes, can either be permanently installed in the home or portable to bring outdoors. Choosing which type to use largely depends upon your water consumption.
The Technology Behind Water Filtration:
Despite the differences among filtration systems, they all utilize a filter made up of porous material, to remove sediments and unwanted substances from water. These filtration systems can significantly reduce the levels of most potentially unhealthy contaminants in water making it safer to drink.
Many water filters are widely used to target and improve the odor and smell of drinking water, making them and attractive option to employ in homes.
The most popular technology commonly used to filter from most water sources is the activated carbon filter, they are generally Comprised of small pieces of carbon, either in block or granular form, that’s extremely porous, making it very effective in adsorbing (or removing) water contaminants and other substances as well as removing bad odors and tastes from your drinking water!
Activated carbon filters can remove at least 81 known chemicals found in tap water. In fact, according to EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), it is the only filter that’s recommended to remove all 32 identified organic contaminants from water, including THMs, as well as all the listed pesticides and herbicides.
Activated carbon filters are widely used in different water filter products such as pitcher filters, gravity filters, under-sink filters and faucet filters. There’s also a good selection of more advanced water filter devices available online. Other water filtration systems come in multi-stages to give you not just cleaner, but also healthier water!
All these benefits come at an affordable price, so why is there a need to consider other types of water such as purified water? Why it’s good to know whether or not is filtered water the same as purified water? The answer is simple: water contaminants vary from one water source to another.
What is Water Purification:
The process of water purification works similar to filtration in that it removes impurities from water, but through a chemical process using mostly either chlorine or iodine.
Purification also focuses not just in removing particles and substances, but to the overall safety of the water for everyone to safely consume.
Technically speaking, “pure” water, in its purest sense, means that it is composed of no more than hydrogen and oxygen (H2O). EPA further defines pure water as water free of any bacteria or viruses.
In a nutshell, purified water references removing of all impurities, including sediments, toxins, microbes, biological contaminants (bacteria and viruses), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and many more contaminants from the water source.
Technologies Used in Purifying Water:
The water purifier used by most municipal water systems involves the use of chlorination process to disinfect the water before it goes to the households. An alternative to chlorine as disinfectant is iodine, but since there are people who suffer from iodine allergies, chlorine is used more often.
The three widely recognized water purifier technologies today are the reverse osmosis system, distillation, and deionization. They all provide powerful purification capabilities. Among these three purification methods, reverse osmosis is popularly known and most utilized in domestic settings due to its high effectiveness and cost-efficiency in purifying water from any source.
Final Thoughts
Is filtered water the same as purified water? Given the interpretations above, they are not the same, but are similar in that they both aim to remove most contaminants and it may be necessary to use both techniques in unison to reach the target level of purification desired.
Last update on 2023-12-06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
About the Author Jack Wilson
Jack Wilson is a water treatment consultant as well as a topic researcher and post editor for all posts on bestpurifiation.com.